PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

This is a memorable and original film that doesn't pull its punches. 

It is written and directed by Emerald Fennell.  She was the show-runner for the second season of 'Killing Eve', which was precisely the point at which that show went downhill for me.  Given this, and that I am not Carey Mulligan's biggest fan, I went into this film concerned that it wouldn't live up to its positive reviews.

I need not have worried.

Mulligan is not an obvious choice for the role of someone consumed by righteous anger, but she is a revelation in this film.

She plays Cassie, a dropout from medical school after her best friend and fellow student Nina committed suicide, having been raped at a drunken party by a fellow student Al.

Now 30, Cassie is living with her parents, and working in a café by day, whilst at night she is pursuing a bizarre one-woman campaign to make young men who think they are nice realise they are not.

Her chance meeting with Ryan, who was a fellow student at medical school, is the trigger for Cassie to seek revenge on those she blames for Al not being brought to justice.

This leads her to do some morally dubious things which emphasise how damaged she is.  This didn't stop me enjoying these episodes, other than the one with Al's lawyer (played by Alfred Molina) which didn't ring true for me, due to a combination of the writing and the performance.

And then Cassie seems to come to her senses and abandons her campaign, instead embarking on a romance with the nice, harmless Ryan. This section of the film demonstrates that Fennell could write and direct a very good romantic comedy if she chose to do so.  The scene, for example, where Ryan is introduced to Cassie's parents is very funny and well observed. 

Of course this happy state of affairs cannot last, for a reason that came as no surprise to me but was no less effective for that.

So we move to the controversial third act, which I am not going to spoil, which somehow leads to an ending which is both very bleak and also uplifting (hence the controversy I guess).

Go see it and decide for yourself!

RATING: ✓✓ Catch It If You Can